A discussion paper released today by Alzheimer's Australia NSW has painted a bleak picture for rural and regional communities as Australia wrestles with the realities of dementia.

According to Alzheimer's Australia NSW CEO John Watkins there are "striking realities that need to be addressed" as a matter of urgency, including the up to 578 per cent predicted increase in the prevalence of dementia in NSW.

"Those percentage increases are just shocking - almost unbelievable to think that there is 300,000 Australians today with dementia (and) it's going to be half a million within 20 years," Mr Watkins told Andrew Schmidt during an interview for ABC999 Broken Hill's Morning Program Outback Outlook.

"It's the third leading cause of death in Australia today and it will be the leading cause of death in Australia within about 20 years - and stay there for most of this century.

"These are striking realities that need to be addressed (and) if we don't, it will condemn so many people who are living in remote communities across this state into loneliness, some despair and a lack of human rights," Mr Watkins warned.

The new discussion paper - Living with Dementia in Regional NSW - delivered startling predicted increases in dementia prevalence in state electoral divisions including Murray-Darling (274%), Wagga Wagga (316%) and Camden (578%).

"The growth in dementia numbers has been quite dramatic in the Murray-Darling electorate and that is replicated across regional Australia," Mr Watkins explained.

"It's a problem now and it's going to be a bigger problem down the track.

"We better get right and ready to deliver dementia services in a flexible way to country communities," Mr Watkins continued.

Developing 'dementia-friendly' communities across Australia will be an important step to take, according to Alzheimer's Australia.

"Everyone needs to cooperate and ensure that there is proper and adequate focus on people living with dementia," Mr Watkins said.

"We hope that at some stage NSW will become a dementia-friendly state and when that happens we can be confident that wherever you live in NSW you'll get access to good quality dementia care.

"We also know that the general health results of people living in country NSW are much poorer than those living in cities."